Overview

The vendor import framework allows users to import new and update existing vendors and vendor addresses using an Excel template. The template is provided and can be downloaded from the system with the existing vendors and addresses or as a blank template for data entry.

Step 1: Downloading the Template

From NorthScope, expand the Company module on the navigation menu and select ‘Integration Inbound’. By default, this list view displays all integration inbound transactions other than those with Complete and User Bypassed statuses. Clicking the ‘Inquiry Criteria’ toolbar icon opens a dialog window, which allows users to edit the inquiry criteria to e.g. display completed integration transactions.

Click the ‘File Import’ toolbar icon to download a vendor template. This opens a new dialog window. Select ‘Vendor’ as the template. To create a blank vendor import template, select Vendor from the Choose Options dropdown menu and click ‘Create Template File’ to generate the template. To create a template with the existing item data, check the check box Include Data. This will export all item data to the template. To create a blank vendor address template, select Vendor Address from the Choose Options dropdown menu, or to create a blank template for both Vendor and Vendor Address select both options from the Choose options dropdown menu and then click Create Template File.

The template is saved to your computer’s default download location (e.g. Downloads folder). Depending on your browser and browser settings, the file download might be also displayed on the footer or header of the browser window for easy access. The file can be opened from the actual file location or from the browser header / footer.

Step 2: Entering Data

Entering New Vendors

The template contains column headers and data can be entered under the column headers (starting from row 2). The following data is always required:

Vendor ID
- Must be unique to create new Vendors.

Vendor Name
Vendor Type
Vendor Class
(Attribute Class)
- Must be provided only if importing Attribute values.

Checkbook
- This value defaults from the vendor class.

Currency
- This value defaults from the vendor class.

Payment Terms
- This value defaults from the vendor class.

Other vendor details are optional and can be provided in the file or updated from the item record once the items have been uploaded to the system.

All vendor attributes are displayed as columns. If a user provides a new list type attribute value, the value is automatically added to the attribute values.

Entering New Vendor Addresses

The template contains column headers and data can be entered under the column headers (starting from row 2). The following data is always required:

Vendor ID
- Must be unique to create new vendors.

Address ID
- Must be unique to create new addresses.
Check Default
- Vendors can only have one default check address.

Updating Existing Vendor Data

When the template is created with the existing item data, the cells are populated with the existing vendor data. Most of the vendor properties are editable except the following:

Vendor ID

Also, the following data must be provided and should not be removed:

Vendor Name
Vendor Class
(Attribute Class) if attribute values are provided
Checkbook
Currency
Payment Terms
CFECID – must be provided for vendor types “Fisherman” and “Fisherman & Tender”
Primary Vessel – must be provided for vendor types “Tender” and “Fisherman & Tender”

New vendors can also be created while updating existing vendors. To do this, enter the new vendor details to the end of the template.

Updating Existing Vendor Address Data

When the template is created with the existing item data, the cells are populated with the existing vendor address data. Most of the vendor address properties are editable except the following:

Vendor ID
Address ID

Also, the following data must be provided and should not be removed:

Check Default – Vendors can only have one default check address (entered on the template as “Yes”)

New vendor addresses can also be created while updating existing vendor addresses. To do this, enter the new vendor address details to the end of the template.

Due to the limitations of Excel, when users enter hyphens or forward slashes into a text field, Excel may interpret the value as a date. For example, the value “2-3” may be converted to the text representation date value, which displays as ”43864”. Similarly, when users enter leading zeros into a field, the leading zero may be removed. Users can now use the escape characters of “^^” to preface any values with hyphens, forward slashes or leading zeros. During the file import process, NorthScope will recognize the escape characters, automatically remove them and insert the value immediately following the escape characters.

Step 3: Saving the Template File

The file must be saved in a CSV format. By default, Excel creates the template in a TXT format and users must manually change the file format. This is very important, because the upload fails if the file type is not correct. To do this click ‘Save As’ in Excel and select 'CSV (Comma delimited) (*.csv)' as the file type before clicking Save.

Step 4: Uploading the Template File

If you have closed the file import window, re-open it and re-select ‘Vendor’ as the template. Click on ‘Select Files to Import’ and locate the file you saved on your computer. Select the file and click Open. Verify that a green dot is displayed in front of the file name. If the file is not in the correct format, a red dot is displayed indicating that the file cannot be uploaded to the system.

After the file has been selected and the file type validation is green, click on ‘Upload to NorthScope’. A pre-validation is performed before the file is added to the integration queue. This validation verifies the correct lookup values have been provided (e.g. the vendor class provided exists in the system) and that all required data is provided (e.g. VendorID, AddressID ). If the pre-validation does not pass, an error message is displayed for the user with the error details.

Successfully uploaded files are added to the Integration Inbound list view with the status New. When the integration has been processed successfully, the status is changed to completed and the new/updated items are added to the system. If the file cannot be integrated (e.g. duplicate address ID is provided), the status is updated to Error and the Error Text field displays the reason why the integration failed. When a file fails to integrate, none of the vendors/vendor addresses from the file are imported to the system and the file fails as a whole. Users must fix the errors in the file and re-import the file.

Additional Documentation

See also the following documentation:

Dialog: File Import

Template: Vendor

Template: Vendor Address

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